HIM- Plus, I hate night elves
Griefers often make up a reason to do what they do. They have their agenda and if anything screws with it, they must do what they can to rectify the situation. In this case, an irrational hatred of one imaginary race in an imaginary world leads Hellacow to grief me. This behavior isn't surprising as much as it is frighteningly consistent with history. Human nature is such that we have prejudices based on appearances. The perception that there are too many Night Elves leads to the assertion that the people who play that race are not as good as people who play a less common race, like Tauren. I am not trying to equate griefing in a videogame to racism (well, maybe a little) but there are dangerous undertones in this kind of thinking. Committing violence (if griefing can be considered violence) because they feel empowered by a crusade to rid the world of one race is freaking scary when you think about it.
But then there are the (perceived) righteous reasons we can make up. As Ringo Flinthammer (Silver Hand) stated: "The only people ... below my own level that I don't get honor for that I've killed have been folks who killed an Alliance quest NPC. Those NPCs were worth nothing to them, and they were doing it just to be obnoxious. So they can spend some time in the penalty box."
HIM- You could have signed off
This is perhaps more descriptive of my character than Hellacow's. They say the best way to beat a bully is to ignore him. I was told that so many times growing up that it was a kind of mantra. But something never let me just take the abuse and move on. I always had to fight back, no matter if I ended up with a bloody nose or wasting an hour rezzing my Night Elf priest. I didn't want to log, letting him know that he had beaten me. I continued to fight, even though I knew it was pointless. In retrospect, I should have taken Jord's advice in this situation, "Take a break! Don't rez! Walk back to your body and then go make yourself a snack. Take a nap. Do whatever makes you happy. It's break time! The campers are just standing there, eagerly watching their screens, whilst you're relaxing, eating, drinking or perhaps making love to your wife. In my opinion, it's the best remedy." Wise words, especially the part about the sex.
HIM- No but now it's pay back
I understand the revenge motivation more than anything else Hellacow cited. I admit to killing Horde toons more frequently if I had been ganked recently. And if a lower-level character comes up to me and "/spits" and "/farts," I have no problem teaching him a lesson. This goes for camping too, as Caheen (Deathwing) explains, "There's also the camping in retaliation for being camped. Being able to break out of a 'getting camped' situation will then make me camp the original offender for a time."
But the constant revenge as a level 60 character on those beneath your level is a little too extreme. Does Hellacow see himself as a senior fraternity member hazing the pledges? I hated those guys in college and I hate them in World of Warcraft, too. The revenge motivation is ultimately faulty because inevitably, the victim would want to wreak the same havoc and thus begins an unending circuit of transgressions and griefing. But perhaps that is Hellacow's goal all along.
